A comparative study on biological properties of novel nanostructured monticellite-based composites with hydroxyapatite bioceramic.

In this research, novel monticellite/hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramic composites were successfully prepared by mechanical method. The ability of nanostructured monticellite-based ceramic composites to form a suitable bond to living hard tissues, and stimulate osteoblast-like cells proliferation may be different for various ratios of the reinforcement to monticellite matrix. The differences in physico-chemical characteristics, bone-like apatite formation, cytocompatibility, cell viability and in vitro osteogenic activity of nanostructured monticellite/HA ceramic composites were explored. The surface reactivity and bioactivity of the composite samples were evaluated in vitro in simulated body fluid (SBF). A comparative time- and dose-dependent MTT test showed that the ions release from nanostructured monticellite/HA composites dissolution significantly stimulated cell proliferation and growth than control at a certain concentration range. The cells viability exposed to the composite extract was higher than control and mineral material of bone (HA), illustrating that cytocompatibility was improved due to the presence of magnesium (Mg) and silicon (Si) elements in the composite structure. The comparative results of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) bioactivity assay showed that the osteogenic proliferation of osteoblast-like G292 cell was increased more by the ceramic composites extract than control. These comparative results demonstrated that nanostructured monticellite-based ceramic composites possessed good in vitro bioactivity, cytocompatibility and osteogenic properties, and may be utilized as the promising bioactive materials for bone tissue regeneration and replacement.